


WRITTEN IN BLOOD

by ouzell



Series: She Wants Revenge [2]
Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Romance, Awkward Romance, Bisexual Chris, Biting, Boys Kissing, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Fluff and Angst, Half-Wendigo Josh Washington, Hearing Voices, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Josh Lives, Living Together, M/M, Making Out, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Neck Kissing, Self-Esteem Issues, Sequel, Wendigo, Wendigo Josh, Wendigo Josh Washington, chris trying to be a good friend and a good listener at the same time, josh overthinking things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-26 03:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20735456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ouzell/pseuds/ouzell
Summary: After a confusing and dangerous confession on both their parts, Chris finds himself panicking to find Josh— and what happened to him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I FINALLY STARTED THIS SEQUEL AND IM SO PSYCHED TO CONTINUE IT!!! Josh and Chris are going to BLOW your MINDS
> 
> PS: if you haven’t read my other fic, “I want to fucking tear you apart,” then that is a MUST to completely understand the contents of this one. But, if you just don’t feel like it, continue anyway! I hope you enjoy regardless. Thanks! :)

If his life were to have flashed in front of his eyes, Josh still would have been the last thing he saw.

It has always been Josh, all of his memories were Josh—

And why should that have to change?

Chris is stumbling through darkness, calling out for someone— for  _ him. _ But there is something else out there, too. Something awful.

He can hear it chattering and growling quietly in the dark.  _ Just like those monsters.. the cabin.. _

Immediately, he freezes. What had that stranger told them…. They can only see you if you move, right? That’s what he reassures himself with. That’s what keeps him from crying out, from sobbing in fear, from running for his goddamn life—

“heLP MEEEE!!!” A scream full of fear sharp enough to draw blood sounds off in the distance. The hair stands up on the back of his neck. 

_ Don’t move don’t move don’t move _

The thing in the dark goes silent.

_ Don’t move don’t move don’t- _

“Please!! Oh God, no…!”

Chris gasps. It’s him. It’s  _ Josh. _

“Oh God, I don’t want to die! I don’t want to—“

A repulsive screech cuts through his screams. Chris is instantly jolted out of his shock. He can’t just stand by while those  _ things  _ get him, he can’t  _ abandon _ him— not again. 

So, “Screw it…” 

Chris took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth. “JOSH!” No answer. He takes another deep breath, but this time he’s running toward the source of the screams as fast as he can. “Josh!!”

Monstrous footfalls echo behind him.

  
  


“J-Josh…” Everything is black, and the air is thick with the smell of iron or metal. Panic begins to seep in without reason as Chris wakes, forcing his words into a strangled whisper. “ _ Josh _ ..” But what was… were the  _ sheets _ wet? His eyes snap open. 

Now, everything is red.

“Oh my god.”

It’s with a clumsy hand that Chris grabs his glasses, entirely disoriented as he rushes to prop them upon his nose. He inspects the other side of the bed. Usually, he finds Josh sleeping peacefully beside him.

Today is very different, however.

Instead, the sheets are soaked with blood— and not recently, either. Almost half of it has dried and turned a faded brown, the rest a horrible, sticky shade of dark red. “Holy shit… who…?” Chris falters as his horror increases. Only now has he looked down at himself and realized that they’d been  _ sleeping _ in it. He gives an involuntary groan of disgust and fear. “What the hell- what the hell happened?” A lump starts to form in his throat. _ Where is Josh? _

With his heartbeat pounding in his ears, Chris gets out of bed. He lets out a bark of numb laughter.

He’d thought they were on the mountain again.

“J…” With another glance at the bloody mess, he falters. “...Josh?” Part of him is afraid. Not of what was in his dream, but of.. him. Why?  _ Why? _

“Chris?”

The sound of his own name is both reassuring and terrifying at the same time.  _ He’s okay. Oh thank GOD he’s okay.  _ In his hurry, Chris very nearly forgets the coppery mess he is and stumbles toward the bedroom door. It’s ajar.

A bloody handprint punctuates the knob.

His heartbeat quickens with urgency. Every beat tells him to  _ find Josh. _ But, when he rounds the corner—

“Oh my god. _Josh_...!”


	2. Chapter 2

There he is, curled into a shivering, compact shape under the dinner table. It might’ve been funny if not for the blood. He’s covered in it, all a horrible dark brown, smeared across his shirt, covering his hands— his face. In fact, there’s almost more there than on the sheets.

But the scariest part is his stare.

He looks at Chris with the eyes of an animal. He looks at him with fear and pain and demented torture in that gaze. His whole body is shaking.

Not more than a whisper escapes him. “Y-you’re—“ The words don’t seem to piece together quite right. “You’re still—“

“Josh…” 

He flinches violently at the sound.

“Stay away from me…” The sheer force of his low, trembling voice silences Chris. He can’t even take another step forward. “I’m…” Josh lifts a trembling hand, regarding it with ragged breaths as if it were a hissing beast itself. “...a monster…” Then the tears fall, tracing lines down his bloody face and spilling onto the floor. “One of those— one of those things!”

“Come on-“ He attempts to take another step forward, but is interrupted.

“I said STAY AWAY FROM ME!” It rings in the silence that follows.

The two of them stand still in time like that for what seems like eons— but Chris manages to muster up his courage and speak again. He has to because there’s no other way to know. “Josh, what...“ he falters, but only because he can’t find anything else to say. “What happened?”

Josh closes his eyes, as if it’s painful to talk about, or even think about. “You trusted me with your life...” he swallows thickly, “when you shouldn’t have.” Those tired eyes flicker up to him, but this time they’re apologetic; defeated. “Whatever this is? It’s- it’s dangerous.” I thought you were dead-” The beginning of a sob wracks his body, and he buries his face in his knees. “Oh God…” Those thin fingers are clutched together at the memory. “I let my guard down once, and… and I nearly kill you…!”

Chris is confused. He’s alive, (though lacking in memory when it comes to last night,) and so is Josh. As far as he could tell, there was nothing to worry about.

So, what could have possibly happened to scare Josh so badly?

“Listen…” He watches the other as he speaks, and he seems to be receptive. It’s hard to tell with him like this. “I don’t remember what happened last night.” Chris swallows— that sounds like some kind of embarrassing confession. “But I do know I’m okay— we both are. So, can you at least look at me?”

He won’t.

“Only if you look first.”

“Wha-“ But then he turns, and he sees. He sees himself in the mirror, only… only he’s covered in— in _bites_. “Holy fuck…” Gingerly, Chris brings his fingertips up to the base of his neck. He flinches. The half circle there is caked with dark blood. At his side, he knows he’ll find another. “I…”

“Don’t make me say it again.”


	3. Chapter 3

Josh can’t look at him again after that. Chris, in a rigid state of shock, won’t drag his eyes away from his own reflection for the longest time— but when he does… he can’t look at him either. He watches as the blonde glances down to his boxers and lifts the left side to expose another on his inner thigh. On each mark, about half of it had broken skin. “Fuck  _ me _ …”

Each time he hears him speak, it’s hard not to flinch.

“Well… you definitely could’ve chosen less obvious spots.”

He closes his eyes and tries not to get angry at Chris’ words. What?

“I mean… what am I gonna do? Wear a scarf for a month? C’mon.”

“Are you…” Josh sighs. Can you quit the funny act for just a  _ second _ , Mr. Carrey? Please?”

He sobers, unhappy with that response— but obeys anyhow. “Okay, it’s a little intense. But I didn’t even  _ notice _ them this morning, and— “

“‘You kidding me? There’s blood everywhere! I took  _ bites _ out of you!”

Chris, now very pink beneath all of the blood and the worrying, clears his throat. “Y’know, Josh.. you’re not the  _ first _ person to do this to— “

Fury like a white hot poker stabs Josh through at those words. “You’ve  _ done this before??  _ With _ who???”  _ He wasn’t exactly sure what he was angry about, or  _ most _ angry about perhaps, but he knew was shocked.

Chis, now very RED, sighed. “If you’d let me  _ finish, _ ” He swallowed uncomfortably, “You’re not the first person to  _ do this to somebody else _ . In a…” then, he waved his hands about, kind of tottering his head. “...kind of  _ way _ .” The flush of his warm cheeks was eye-catching.

With his head in his hands, Joshua tries again not to get frustrated. A deep breath. A sigh. Then, he stands, and opens his eyes again. Those tired eyes. 

“I’m calling Sam. Don’t follow me.”

Josh leaves Chris alone in the living room.

He’s dangerous. Josh is dangerous and he knows that he’s ruined this— this entire thing. It isn’t like he was going to  _ kid _ himself that it was ever going  _ well _ , but at least he wasn’t sampling his best friend like a _ fine cheese platter _ at first. And there’s not even anything he can say, because what would he say? What could he? All of that blood… he should’ve known. He should’ve just rejected Chris and told him he was being weird and gay and never seen him again. Yeah.

But that’s what another person would have done. Someone who isn’t selfish enough to take advantage of someone as good as Chris. The kind of person that always insists Josh isn’t a burden, reminding him of meds and meals and even when to go to sleep, as if he doesn’t have his own life to live. He’s in college. He’s got friends. He’s one of the smartest, funniest guys he’s ever met.

And he deserves not to be dragged down by dead weight.

  
  


Looking at Chris, and all the blood…  _ his _ blood… glittering, ruby red——

It was the prettiest sight he’d ever seen.

“...I WANT TO FUCKING TEAR YOU APART.”

After he’d said it, held that beating heartbeat close to his lips and  _ told _ him— Chris gasped. EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT 

His heartbeat had gone ballistic…

WARM BEAUTIFUL THING

But… he didn’t pull away from Josh, as he’d expected.

BURST IN YOUR MOUTH LIKE FRUIT

Instead, he turned to him, 

EAT IT DEVOUR IT

took his face in his hands,

_ TEAR RIP AND TEAR FLESH AND BLOOD _

smiled  _ devilishly _ _ — _

_ NOW NOW TAKE HIM NOW _

And then,

then he kissed him.

Josh was being kissed by Chris and his eyes were closed so he closed his eyes too and holy shit why is he a good kisser and oh my god I’m kissing my best friend I’m going to die.

But his lips, and the feeling of them against his… it was incredible. It was like leaning down to drink from a pool of pure light, or… or..  _ something _ . There was no way to describe how he felt— it was impossible. No one had ever felt that way before. He could guarantee it. Of course, he’d been kissed before, many times— boys, too— but it’d never been like this. This had nothing to do with that. This was entirely other.

The most embarrassing part was, he didn’t click from the bottom of his throat, he moaned.

Chris broke away to smile at the sound. His words weren’t much more than a breathless murmur. “I was hoping you’d say that.” And the next thing Josh knew, he was already back to kissing him again, mouth hot against the cool skin of his neck. Those gentle hands turned forceful and shoved him down onto the bed. Funny thing was, they’d already slept in that bed together many nights without anything like this happening. Nothing at all.

And there was nothing to hold him back anymore, either.   
“Shut the fuck up-” Josh pulled him back up to kiss him again, to get another taste of sunlight. His mouth curled into a smile as he did so, irresistible in the moment.

Josh took hold of Chris’ hair again, threw him to the bed, and climbed atop of him. It was  _ easy _ . “I’m gonna eat you up, Hartley.”

Beneath him, already tugging at those shorts, his best friend snorted. “Haven’t heard  _ that _ one before.”

_ Fuck. He was perfect. _

_ _ Josh grabbed hold of those pale hips and yanked him right up close with a grin. “I said,” it was so easy to just lean in and steal a kiss from him again, smooth and sweet and  _ hungry _ — “shut up.”

“Dare I say… make me?”

The rest is too painful to even think about.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been so fun to write from chapter 1 of the first fic, I love the way Chris and josh’s dynamic has developed!!
> 
> P.S.: thank you so much to everyone 4 your support!! your comments are what I look forward to most :,)

“Wait, wait wait— say again?”

“I tried... to eat him.” It's not easy to get the words out, but he manages. 

“ _ Eat? _ ” Sam stays quiet on the other end for a moment before she speaks, but when she does, she’s calm and collected. “But he’s okay?”

“I mean, aside from the bites,“

She interrupts him with a scoff of incredulity. Josh doesn’t blame her. “Sorry. That’s good. Um… where is he now?”

“In the shower.”

“Okay… What about you? How are you holding up, Washington?”

“I- I don’t know.” Josh thinks for a moment. His mind has been racing so quickly for the past few hours that he hasn’t even stopped to  _ think _ . “It feels like I’m on a sugar high or something.” He laughs dryly at the thought. “I’m not hungry, though, which is weird—“

“How about mentally? I mean— I read in your report…” she sounds a little sheepish at that fact; “...the impulses? How are they?”

A sigh as he’s reminded, and Josh prepares to repeat the same again— but he stops. “Actually,” His brow furrows. “Actually, I haven’t really thought about it since last night.” He blinks in confusion, but continues speaking his mind regardless. “I guess I was just too freaked out about all the  _ blood _ and shit.”

Sam’s kind chuckle on the other end is a comfort. “Yeah, you would be—“

The water stops upstairs. It sends Josh back into panic mode. “He’s- he’s gonna come back down, Sam.”

“ _ Okay, okay— _ that’s okay. You’ll be fine. Look— I’ve got some other calls to make. I’ll call back soon, and we’ll talk more.” He can hear the jingling of keys on the other end. She’s getting in her car. It crosses his mind that she might have a job to get to. 

“Soon, Sam.” He sighs shakily, then shuts his eyes. “Soon.”

He’s sitting there for what seems like hours. Still, Sam doesn’t call back.

The sun rises with the birds. 

When the bathroom door upstairs opens, she still hasn’t called back. Chris comes downstairs, more tempting than ever, and Sam still hasn’t called back.

Blonde and flushed and  _ gorgeous _ , he smiles at Josh hesitantly. “They don’t look as bad without all the blood.”

Josh, however, disagrees. “You look like…” Now that they’re clean, more marks are visible, red and pink and purple and starkly outlined by his pale skin. It’s almost mesmerizing.

“A character from Paranormal Activity?” Then he flashes that lopsided grin of his.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Josh only regains his thoughts after a moment. “Y-yeah.” His eyes don’t leave his wounds, “You sure you don’t need-“

But there is no time to ask Chris what he needs, because it’s in that moment that Josh’s phone finally rings. He’s startled out of his thoughts and fumbles in his pocket.

Chris looks anxious as Josh answers. It makes his heart beat a little faster.

“Hello?”

Sam’s called back.

She wants him to move in.


	5. Chapter 5

Josh shoves clothes into a duffle bag because he figures he shouldn’t bother taking the time to fold the few things he calls his own. It doesn’t matter either way.

One of Chris’ shirts crosses his path as he sorts through the clean laundry. With a stab of guilt he tosses it in his bag too, then quickly covers it up with a Green Day sweatshirt. Chris’ll never notice anyway.

He grabs his meds, his phone, his sketchbook— everything he’ll need— but stops at the extra surgical masks. Not because he doesn’t need them, but because… but because he’s grown used to going without. It’s hard to imagine having to worry about that again.Josh unfolds one and stretches it over his nose and damaged mouth. It’s familiar, that stuffy feeling, but not in a good way. 

The smell of blood still hasn’t left Josh’s senses. 

Then, the doorbell rings. It’s Sam. 

“...Hey Chris. Long time no see, huh?” She’s in joggers and a sweatshirt, but the healthy color in her cheeks makes her look like she’s been to the gym rather than just crawled out of bed.    
“Yeah. No kidding.” Chris’ tone says he isn’t really in the mood to participate in formalities. The dark storm cloud rolling over his gaze as Josh joins the two of them sends a pretty strong message about how he feels about the entire situation— Josh’s moving out— and the guilt that comes with it is almost too heavy to bear. He feels dirty, vile… not only disgustingly unstable, but as if he’d used his best friend and immediately proceeded to run the other way without excuse or apology. And he was; he  _ was _ running.

“Well… guess we’d better be on our way-“ 

Sam begins, before she’s a little startled by the way Josh ducks his head without a word and speed-walks out to the car with his hands in his pockets. He doesn’t have the energy to listen to them talk, let alone speak himself. Only wanted to tangle with the pitch black thrashing around in his mind. Not loud, monstrous commands, but his own. 

_ Why did I ever come here- why did I leave? Why did they  _ ** _let_ ** _ me? Clearly I was completely unprepared for something like this… unfit for society, unfit for independence and, apparently, even civil company… I— _

_ ...why did I ever leave the mines? _

Sam’s car is quiet. Clean. Her graduation tassel hangs on the rearview mirror proudly.

“So… you doing okay?”

Josh is quiet. His mind still won’t stop going over those moments when he thought Chris was dead— that he’d  _ killed  _ him. It was too much like the mountain. Too much like his nightmares.

“I’m taking my meds.”

“That wasn’t what I asked.” But she doesn’t push it. It’s not the right time, and they both know that. 

A light spring drizzle patters against the windows. He watches the ice in her Starbucks tea jiggle in its cup. Remembers going to the beach with everybody when he was ten, and thinking it was cool mom took them all out for iced tea and salt water taffy.

“You’re still covered in blood.” She’s like a mother too, the way she worries over him. 

“I’ll clean myself up when we get there.”

Sam still hazards a glance at him, protective in her incalculable way. She’s always been the fixer, the girl with a million solutions to every problem. “I’ll get you a fresh towel. And pajamas.”

It’s nice of her to comfort him.

Samantha Giddings lives in the suburbs, with Saturday markets and elementary schools and neighbors that talk about the weather. They even pass a fruit vendor on the road into town. Somehow, Josh thinks it suits her.

“There’s a guest room down the hall and two bathrooms, so don’t worry about hogging the shower.”

He nods. “Okay.”

“Oh and if you’re hungry, the kitchen is yours, I always have leftovers.”

“...Okay.” Josh is still quiet, still raw from his nerves. If he knew what he needed, he’d ask for it. But, when he thinks about it, nothing seems comforting. Nothing promises him any peace. Maybe if he takes a moment to himself he’ll be able to adjust better. That’s what he hopes.

“..I know you’re scared, and probably feeling really weird right now Josh,” Sam offers gently, “But you made the right choice. You stopped yourself from really hurting Chris, and now you’re both safe.” Could that be true? Sure, he and Chris are separated so he can’t hurt him anymore, but safe?? The only way to be sure would be to be by his side. The conflict sits like a heavy stone in his stomach.

When Josh feels a comforting hand at his shoulder, he startles and flinches away. Not on purpose of course, but a sorry imitation of a smile is offered anyway. “Yeah.. you’re right.” His eyebrows twitch together subconsciously. 

If only he could go back.


End file.
